i do some hiphop production, you can check out my stuff at www.myspace.com/lilringtone if you want. i'm working on a beat for a pop singer and i want to make it 100% piano maybe with some strings and brass in the hook but i'm thinking about not even including any drums. i know not a lot of pop songs do that but it's a really sad song and i think keeping them out will really add to that and make it more dramatic

i've played piano more than half my life but i'm having trouble with this. it has to be at least somewhat consistent and not too "empty" so she can sing over it. anyone have any tips, where to start, etc?

i do some hiphop production, you can check out my stuff at www.myspace.com/lilringtone if you want. i'm working on a beat for a pop singer and i want to make it 100% piano maybe with some strings and brass in the hook but i'm thinking about not even including any drums. i know not a lot of pop songs do that but it's a really sad song and i think keeping them out will really add to that and make it more dramatic

i've played piano more than half my life but i'm having trouble with this. it has to be at least somewhat consistent and not too "empty" so she can sing over it. anyone have any tips, where to start, etc?

I'm a "composer" and for the record, you will find no download of my music on this post

I have some advice.... listen.

Get some super-holywood dramas and watch them... listen to the scores. Perhaps from composers like James Horner, Thomas Newman, Howard Shore, and one of my favorites as of late (and if some of you classical pianists have heard this guy, you might agree" Marcelo Zarvos and Peter Vronsky. Watch the movie "Door in the Floor."

Or "Adagio for Strings" its a classic from the movie "Full Metal Jacket"

Okay, so those are examples of "sad" songs with pianos and strings and all that good stuff.

Listen to some of Moby's music. I don't like him personally, but there are a couple of really good "sad" songs that give you a match with the electronic music genre.

As far as direction for coming up with your own stuff? Keep it simple and minimal. Maybe have two or three argegiations, loop them together, throw some strings over it.... but remember that the singer is carrying the melody...

The one thing that I can think of is the song "Without You", most famously performed by Harry Nilsson but also sung by Mariah Carey, Kelly Clarkson, and others. It's probably the most popular sad song to ever be recorded and for good reason. Check it out and see what they do. In the Harry Nilsson version, the arrangement consists of softly reverberating piano, a simple but pulsating bass line, quiet drums, and well placed strings. Play close attention to how the chords are mostly minor ones and will break into some majors and major 7s when there is a bridge into the chorus. Melodically, its tough to give direction. Maybe try fooling around first in the minor scale and maybe even in the blues scale for a while. Here is one definite suggestion I can make: give the singer a big jump during the opening of the chorus. At least a fifth, maybe an octave or a ninth if they are capable.

I hope that any of that makes sense. I'll keep thinking about it and see if I can come up with anything.

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